Bingham Private Wealth LLC Invests $1.54 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Bingham Private Wealth LLC opened a new position in Meta Platforms, buying 2,327 shares worth about $1.54 million in Q4, which makes Meta ~1.3% of the firm's portfolio and its 17th largest holding.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive — MarketBeat shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus with a $837.09 target — supported by a recent quarterly earnings beat (EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16) and upbeat commentary about AI-driven ad upside.
• Near-term risks include a planned cut of roughly 8,000 roles and hiring freezes to offset AI capex, reports of employee-tracking for AI training and substantial insider selling, all of which could weigh on sentiment despite the bullish outlook.

Bingham Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,327 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,536,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Bingham Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunpointe LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. G2 Capital Management LLC OH raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. G2 Capital Management LLC OH now owns 728 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Warburton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Warburton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. R. W. Roge & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. R. W. Roge & Company Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,091,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,070,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $805.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $837.09.

Key Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support: Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" and $850 price target and other firms (Deutsche Bank, Citizens) remain constructive, highlighting AI-driven ad upside and margin leverage. Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating, $850 PT
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank and others emphasize AI investments could strengthen Meta’s core advertising product and lift monetization, supporting bullish price targets. This Is the Impact of AI on Meta Platforms' Core Advertising Business
• Positive Sentiment: Product and engagement catalysts — Threads added Live Chats and Meta Quest gained DirecTV streaming, which could help user engagement and new content monetization paths. Live Chats Are Now on Threads You Can Now Stream DirecTV on Your Meta Quest Headset
• Neutral Sentiment: Account and UX improvements: Meta is revamping its cross-app Meta Account system to streamline logins and device management — a product-level improvement with unclear near-term revenue impact. Meta Is Revamping Its Cross-App Management System
• Neutral Sentiment: Safety/parent tools: Meta added a feature letting parents see topics teens ask Meta AI about; reputationally positive but unlikely to move near-term revenue. Parents Can Now See What Their Kids Are Asking Meta AI About
• Negative Sentiment: Large workforce reduction: Meta will cut ~8,000 roles (10% of staff) and freeze hiring for ~6,000 open positions to "run more efficiently" and offset AI capex — the scale of the move signals heavy near-term restructuring and underscores how costly Meta’s AI buildout remains. Meta Prepares 8,000 Layoffs to Offset AI Infrastructure Investments
• Negative Sentiment: Employee-tracking controversy: Reports that Meta is logging employee keystrokes, clicks and mouse activity to train AI raise privacy/ethical concerns and potential regulatory scrutiny. Meta Is Tracking Employee Usage on Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and ESG pressures: New shareholder proposals, recent court rulings around teen addiction liability and a consumer suit over ad-related scams increase potential legal costs and reputational risk. Meta Verdict Poised to Shift Platform Liability Consumer Watchdog Group Files Suit
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan disclosed multi-hundred-thousand-dollar share sales under a 10b5-1 plan, a data point some investors watch as a mild negative signal. SEC Filing: Javier Olivan Share Sales

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $659.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $517.50 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $627.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $650.33. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. The company's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 166,117 shares of company stock worth $106,367,778 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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